Fulham 1-2 Ipswich Town

Freddie Sears (right) and Brett Pitman (left) scored Ipswich's goals

Freddie Sears scored in the opening 16 seconds as Ipswich made it seven games without a win for Fulham.

The visitors took an early lead in the Championship game when Sears ran at Fulham's defence from the kick-off and fired home from the edge of the box.

The Cottagers were level when Ross McCormack struck a fantastic 30-yard free-kick into the bottom-left corner.

But Ipswich scored the winner in the second half when Brett Pitman steered home Sears' cross.

Town remain sixth in the table, with Fulham - the top scorers in the division with 34 goals despite being held scoreless on Tuesday night - staying 17th.

It was the second game in charge for Cottagers senior coach Stuart Gray, after their 2-2 draw with Brentford, as the club continue to look for a new manager following Kit Symons' departure in November.

Fulham had chances to level with substitute Matt Smith heading just wide, but at the other end Sears put a shot just wide for Ipswich.

After that chance, the hosts never looked like forcing a late equaliser.

Fulham senior coach Stuart Gray: "We can't control the decision upstairs. Our focus is on winning games. I can't fault the players' application. At the moment nothing has been said. I will be preparing the players until told otherwise.

"What has been happening at this club far too often this season is going a goal down. You don't expect to concede after 16 seconds.

"We need to work hard on the training ground. The players know they let themselves down."

Ipswich boss Mick McCarthy: "Brett deserves all the credit as he has not trained since Saturday. He's had root canal treatment and travelled on the bus with a splitting headache and toothache. He's had difficulty sleeping but he epitomised my team's performance with the way he went about things.

"It was a great away performance. We played very well, deserved to win but we let them off the hook a bit.

"It was a fabulous finish by Freddie for the first as he was at full pelt so to be as calm as he was and find his finish was great. It would take most people more than 16 seconds to run the length of the pitch. He's been terrific all season."